Resolution backs pension fight

By Sean Barron

BOARDMAN — Mahoning County commissioners have passed a resolution seeking to amend a plan to substantially cut the pensions of Delphi Corp. salaried retirees.

The measure calls for Delphi, General Motors Corp. and the Automotive Task Force created by President Barack Obama to take all necessary steps to amend the plan so all automotive industry retiree groups get the same benefits as their United Auto Workers counterparts.

During their meeting Wednesday at Boardman Government Center, commissioners heard from Bruce Gump, who called the pension reduction plan “wrong, ethically and morally.”

The retirees are facing pension cuts between 30 percent and 70 percent as their pensions are being taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. The PBGC is a federal agency that insures pensions.

“During the bankruptcy hearings, [Delphi] chose to ignore us and throw us out like trash,” said Gump, a member of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association. “All we’re asking for in this is fairness.”

During the bankruptcy case, the company dropped its pension plan.

Gump will be in Washington, D.C., to testify at 10 a.m. Thursday before the Health Education Labor and Pensions committee, of which U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, is a member. The committee will be considering pension reform.

Gump said he hopes the Senate committee will push the federal government for fair and equitable representation for workers and retirees.

Gump noted that in 1999, Delphi pensions were fully funded, yet 10 years later, they are under-funded by more than $2 billion.

Such cuts to retirees’ pension plans not only will impact the former workers negatively, Gump continued, but could cause some area merchants to lose their jobs, largely because fewer people will be spending money at their businesses. The plan probably will hit younger Delphi workers hard, in part because the PBGC doesn’t cover supplemental pensions given to the workers to encourage them to retire early, he said, adding that it also likely will hurt the Valley’s economy.

Nevertheless, Gump expressed confidence that a positive outcome will be forthcoming.

“We are going to fix this, though it’s going to take some time” he said. “We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress, and we’re going to win this.”